From: RYAN Alan Porter <ryan@rtfm.mlb.fl.us>
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 93 22:55:39 PDT
To: Jim McCoy <mccoy@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>
Subject: Re: Crypto anarchy in a VW? (not the bug)
In-Reply-To: <199306021836.AA01020@flubber.cc.utexas.edu>
Message-ID: <Pine.3.03.9306030237.F18959-b100000@rtfm>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain




On Wed, 2 Jun 1993, Jim McCoy wrote:

> Mark <mark@coombs.anu.edu.au> writes:
> > 
> > >I still don't see why all of the actual encryption couldn't be done in 
> > >software though...
> > 
> > Me either, apart from TEMPEST issues...
> 
> Speed.  No software implementation will be able to match a hardware DES
> chip in total throughput.  I have enough trouble dealing with the drive
> transfer speeds imposed upon PC unix systems with the lame bus, but even
> this could keep up if I had to run my file access through a software DES
> system.  There are cards out there that can do this, and it doesn't really
> make sense not to offload this to an external device.

Yes, actually it does.  Hardware cannot be widely and freely distributed
the way software can.  I am looking to write something that can protect
EVERYONE, not just those people that can afford to buy some dedicated
hardware.  

Would PGP be so widespread today if it required a hardware coprocessor?

> > Linux comes with slot in file system
> > modules (as detailed in a letter to Jim) that you can easily adapt to your
> > own uses. Ive been playing around with this idea for a while. Adding a
> > desfs(tm) (me :) to a linux kernel is not going to be that hard I think..
> > (touch wood).
> 
> Yes, the other thing that pushed me to linux (besides the larger user
> community) was the support for "drop-in" filesystems.  

I like the whole Unix idea for PC's in general, and Linux in particular,
but the fact remains that the people who need security the most (the
average schmuck out there in the business world or the kid running a BBS)
are most likely to be using a PC DOS-based system, and I am writing for them.

> 
> jim

-Ryan
the Bit Wallah